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Indigenous Data Sovereignty: Toward an Agenda—John Taylor and Tahu Kukutai (Eds) (2016)

Today is Te Takarangi’s 100th entry and we celebrate this milestone by acknowledging the ground-breaking work of Associate Professor Tahu Kukutai (Waikato, Ngāti Maniapoto, Te Aupouri) and John Taylor. Indigenous Data Sovereignty is the first book to focus on this new and emerging field asking: what does data sovereignty mean for Indigenous peoples, and how is it being used in their pursuit of self-determination?

Publication details

Kukutai, T. and J. Taylor (Eds). Indigenous Data Sovereignty: Toward an Agenda. Canberra, Australia: ANU Press, 2016.

About the book

In an age when data permeates our lives daily, issues relating to data consent, use, ownership and storage have become increasingly complex. While indigenous peoples have long claimed sovereign status over their lands and territories, debates about ‘data sovereignty’ have been dominated by national governments and multinational corporations focused on issues of legal jurisdiction. Missing from those conversations have been the inherent and inalienable rights and interests of indigenous peoples relating to the collection, ownership and application of data about their people, lifeways and territories.

Premised on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, this book argues that indigenous peoples have inherent and inalienable rights relating to the collection, ownership and application of data about them, and about their lifeways and territories. Indigenous Data Sovereignty, asks what does data sovereignty mean for indigenous peoples, and how is it being used in their pursuit of self-determination? This book is the first to engage with the topic from an indigenous standpoint, drawing on papers and discussions from a workshop held in Canberra in 2015.

The mostly indigenous contributors theorise and conceptualise this fast-emerging field and present case studies that illustrate the challenges and opportunities involved. These range from indigenous communities grappling with issues of identity, governance and development, to national governments and NGOs seeking to formulate a response to indigenous demands for data ownership. While the book is focused on the CANZUS states of Canada, Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand and the United States, much of the content and discussion is of interest and practical value to a broader global audience.

Further information 

 

This publication is part of the series Te Takarangi: Celebrating Māori publications - a sample list of 150 non-fiction books produced by a partnership between Royal Society Te Apārangi and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga.